


Dean's Adventures in Babysitting

by alexjanna91



Series: Adventures in Babysitting (Apple Pie Life) [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Babysitting, Domestic, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Parents & Children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-11
Updated: 2013-02-11
Packaged: 2017-11-28 23:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/680092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexjanna91/pseuds/alexjanna91
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all started with a hangover, a ringing doorbell, and a breakfast of champions. Dean just knew he shouldn’t have gotten out of bed that morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dean's Adventures in Babysitting

**Author's Note:**

> The beginning of the Babysitting verse.

Dean had it rough. And by rough, he meant the mother of all hangovers, a stiff back, stiff neck, mouth full of cotton, and a gaping bleeding hole in his chest where his little brother use to be.

The light filtering in through Lisa’s guestroom windows was stabbing him unmercifully in the eyes and his stomach was two shakes from shaking itself up and out of his mouth. God, he really hated tequila. Why did he always go for tequila when he was feeling sorry for himself?

Because whisky and scotch were too subtle to drown his post-apocalyptic sorrows.

Dean groaned and tried with little success to stop the midgets with drumsticks in his head from banging on his brain as he flopped over onto his back and swallowed back down that burger he inhaled the night before when it tried to make a getaway.

Fuck this. Next time he’s so grabbing the good scotch. He deserves it after saving the world, so sue him.

It took him a moment, and a few more preemptive swallows, before he realized that it wasn’t just the sun that had woken him up. The fucking doorbell was ringing off the hook as well.

He groaned again as the cheery chime made him want to pull a Van Gough and cut off his own ears. Yes, he knows who Van Gough is. He slept with an art major once and she was a talker… in and out of bed.

He waited a bit longer expecting Lisa to answer it, but then with another chime he realized that he had the vaguest recollection of her coming into his room and telling him she’d be gone the rest of the day. It was just him and Ben and apparently the kid doesn’t answer doors.

Son of a bitch.

Pushing and pulling his way out of bed, Dean tugged on the smoky, beer stained pair of jeans he’d worn to the bar the night before and tumbled his way toward the front door. He’d completely forgotten to button and zip them up.

As he passed the living room, he caught a blurry glimpse of Ben glued to the TV, the Saturday morning cartoons blaring loudly. Maybe the kid couldn’t even hear the doorbell over all that racket.

With a groan and tug he had the door open expecting to see a chipper sales person, Jehovah’s Witness, or a Census worker. It took him a moment to realize that the obsessive doorbell ringer was down bellow eyelevel.

“What?” Dean growled near incoherently, eighty percent of his brain was still asleep.

Standing on Lisa’s welcome mat was a little kid about Ben’s age in a well loved dinosaur shirt, dark cargo shorts, and tennis shoes. His hair was a complete rumpled mess, as all little boys’ are, and he was eyeing Dean like very bad smelling… something.

Dean figured the kid wasn’t far off on that last one.

“Who are you?” The kid asked, his eyes suspicious and his nose wrinkled.

Dean frowned a little at him and looked down at himself. Bare-chested, scarred up, and hungover he looked like death warmed over with a side order of ugly. “I’m a friend of Lisa’s, Ben’s mom.” He replied, his voice and head a little more clear now that his blood was pumping.

The kid still looked at him doubtfully, but shrugged it off.

“What? Are you selling cookies or something?” Dean grumbled, because he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why any kid would want to be up at this time of the day. Regardless that he didn’t even know what time of the day it was.

The kid scrunched his nose up again. “No!” He scoffed as if Dean was completely stupid. Maybe he was. “That’s the Girl Scouts and it’s the wrong time year.”

“Right.” Dean leaned against the doorjamb and rubbed at his face. Why were all the kids in this neighborhood smartasses? He ignored the fact that he’d only met two so far. Including this one with the dinosaur t-shirt and Ben.

Dinosaur kid shifted from one foot to the other a little impatiently before he finally huffed. “Can I come and play with Ben, or what?”

Oh. Of course. Dean shrugged and turned so that his voice would carry through the house over the noise of the TV. “Hey, Ben!” He yelled. “There’s this kid-”

“Errol.” The kid supplied.

Errol? Really? Dean eyed him dubiously before continuing. “This kid, Errol, wants to play with you!”

The sound of the TV shut off and Dean could hear a pattering of feet coming toward them. Ben bounced into his back and leaned around him to stick his head out the door. “Hey Errol!”

The kid –Errol- gave him a grin and waved. “Hey Ben.”

Ben turned and looked up at Dean with hope shining in his eyes. “Can Errol come play?”

“I dunno. What would your mother say?” Dean asked, because this was so not really his job right here. He didn’t know a thing about this type of kid stuff.

“Please!” Ben begged completely avoiding the question.

Dean stared down at the kid for a second and knew that without a doubt he was completely screwed. “Sure, whatever.”

Both boys cheered and raced past him into the house before plopping themselves down in front of the TV again. Dean followed at a more sedate, stumbling pace.

Rubbing tiredly at his eyes, Dean glanced at the clock over the mantel. Nine-thirty. “Hey, you kids have breakfast yet?” He asked leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes.

Ben crawled off the floor and leaned over the back of the couch to look at him. “Mom made me cereal.” He said.

Errol fidgeted a bit and tugged on his shirt kind of nervously. Dean frowned.

“I had some toast.” The kid said.

Jeez, it’s a wonder any of these kids aren’t starving twenty-four-seven. He and Sam could clean out the kitchen in one morning when they were this age.

“That’s not breakfast.” Dean declared, pushing himself up again and turning back toward his room. “When I’m done cleaning up, I’ll make you guys breakfast.”

Ben and Errol just looked at each other and shrugged.

A nice hot shower and some semi fresh clothes later, Dean was padding barefoot into the kitchen and rummaging around in the fridge and cupboards for something to cook. He was absolutely starving. Of course the best cure for a hangover was greasy food, but he figured he’d make do with a ginormous breakfast instead.

“Hey, kiddos!” He shouted from inside the fridge. “What do you guys want to eat? We got eggs, bacon, waffles, I think I can make pancakes.” He trailed off and started pulling anything and everything from the shelves and stacking them up on the counter.

“Can you really make all that stuff?” Ben asked as he climbed up onto one of the high stools at the bar.

Dean gave him an absent grin and nodded. “Sure. I used to do all the cooking for me and my…” he paused and swallowed the lump that suddenly lodged itself in his throat. “Me and my brother.”

“Could you make pancakes?” Errol asked, looking doubtful and hopeful at the same time.

Dean nodded. “Sure thing, kid. You want anything on them? I think I saw some chocolate chips a second ago.”

“You’d let us eat chocolate for breakfast?” The kid gaped, looking completely amazed.

Frowning, Dean shrugged and started mixing the ingredients together. “Yeah.” He drawled. “I’m not gonna feed you any of that new age, health crap. A man could starve if that’s all he ate.”

Errol scrunched his nose in an action Dean was starting to associate with the kid. “That’s all my mom lets me eat. She says whole grain is better for your digestive system.”

That was a sentence Dean didn’t ever want to hear come out of a red blooded American kid’s mouth ever again. “You’re not allergic to anything, are you?” He asked.

“No.”

“Then we’re gonna have a Winchester breakfast today. No whole grain, none of that tofu crap, and lots and lots of nice greasy bacon.”

The boys looked doubtful, but were game to indulge him so Dean set a large mixing bowl in front of them and started instructing them on which ingredients to add while he fried up some bacon and worked on scrambling most of a dozen eggs.

Pretty soon the boys were covered in flour and Dean was praying that he could get the mess cleaned up before Lisa came home, but he figured that if the kids were having fun and not getting into trouble on his watch it would be alright.

Besides, he’s pretty sure he saw one of those hand held vacuum cleaners in the hall closet.

“Alright, kids.” He clapped his hands together and started moving the food to the kitchen table. “Wash your hands, and grab yourselves some silverware and plates. Let’s dig in.”

Ben and Errol looked at the mountains of food with a little bit of apprehension. Neither of them had really seen so much food for breakfast before. But it all smelled so damned good and they’d made the pancakes all by themselves (with Dean manning the stove, of course). They couldn’t really not be excited about eating it all.

Dean flopped down into his seat and started piling eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, and fruit on his plate then started pouring syrup over one half and shaking large drops of Tabasco sauce and ground pepper over the other half. He scooped up a truly large forkful and shoved it into his mouth with a groan.

Damn, he cooked good.

Ben and Errol watched him in a mixture of awe and dubiousness. Dean just grinned at them with a mouthful of food. “Eat.” He ordered, undeterred by their staring.

They started to tentatively pile food on their plates then when that was gone and eaten, they realized they were still hungry and started piling more on.

Dean watched with satisfaction. It wasn’t right when little boys started talking about diets and health food and soy-whatevers. This, he thought, is how men eat.

Soon they were all stuffed to the gills and all of Dean’s cooking was gone. The plate that held the two pounds of bacon on it was even licked clean. Errol had blushed at Dean’s approving eyebrow, but couldn’t help the happy grin on his face.

“Okay, then.” Dean nodded with an impressed smirk. “Let’s get this stuff cleaned up before your mom gets home.”

With three pairs of hands, however inexperienced with cleaning up after themselves they might be, the dishes went by quickly. Soon, Dean was watching the boys fidget with renewed energy and maybe a little bit of a sugar buzz from the chocolate and syrup.

He knew the signs. That was the “I’m going to get into trouble or break something I’m so wired” dance and he was going to have to do something soon before they burned the house down trying to entertain themselves.

Dean eyed them then asked, “You guys want to go to the park?”

“Yeah!” They cheered.

The Impala rumbled down the street blasting Metallica and bouncing on its axels as the two little boys in the backseat nearly pinged off the roof with energy. Dean cringed and wondered what exactly he’d gotten himself into.

Parking across from the park, Dean found a little hand tugging at his jacket in hurried jerky tugs. “Yeah, Ben?”

“Play soccer with us.” He said before he and Errol hopped out of the car and raced off toward the empty green field next to the playscape.

“Okay then.” Dean drawled and got out of the car at a more sedate pace.

Steel toed work boots weren’t necessarily optimal for kicking a ball back and forth, but Dean found it didn’t really matter when the point was to keep the boys running as much as possible.

“Score!” Dean cheered, arms thrust in the air as he celebrated and jumped up and down.

“No!” Ben protested just as loudly. “You cheated! You’re not allowed to throw it in!”

“What? What?” Dean taunted. “I couldn’t hear you over the sound of my awesome score!”

Errol and Ben looked at each other then over at the adult with them that cheated just as bad a kindergartener. They were in complete agreement.

“Charge!” Errol screamed and launched himself at Dean spread eagle then latched onto him like a grappling hook.

Dean shouted in surprise and went down as Ben hit him from the other side. He was out numbed and he knew it so he let them wrestle him to the ground before he caught Errol’s hands in a vice grip then planted his other hand on the kid’s belly and pushed up. Errol went flying and landed on his butt laughing full bodied only to jump right back into the fray again.

Ben and Errol wrestled and pushed and were launched away for a good twenty minutes until Dean realized he either had to put a stop to the roughhousing or he was going to be in serious trouble. Whether that trouble was cardiac arrest or an unfortunate ten year-old knee to the nuts he figured it was a toss up.

“Alright! I surrender!” He shouted over the giggling and egging. “Enough! You got me!”

The boys jumped off him and raced away toward the jungle gym leaving Dean panting and groaning in the grass behind them. “Jesus,” he breathed. “Kids are freaking vicious.”

“You get used to it,” said a kind, smiling voice from above his head.

Opening his eyes, Dean saw a pretty young woman looking at him upside down. “I’m Trisha.” She said.

“Dean.” He offered in return before rolling over and getting to his feet with a groan of pain. Man, the ground wasn’t so good for his back.

Trisha chuckled at him and took his offered hand in a firm shake. “I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you new to the neighborhood?” She asked pleasantly.

“Sorta.” Dean shrugged, bending down he picked up the jacket he’d shed an hour earlier and the soccer ball they’d found in Lisa’s garage. “I’m an old friend of Lisa Braeden’s. I’m kinda camping out with them for a while.”

“Ah.” Trisha nodded as if she understood perfectly. Dean seriously doubted that she did. “So you’re babysitting today then.”

Dean looked over to where Ben was swinging upside down from the very top of the jungle gym laughing his head off. “Yeah,” he said, “I guess so.”

Trisha followed his gaze then looked back at him and took in his dazed look and poorly concealed pride. Ah, that’s it, then. She smiled. “Ben seems like a nice kid.”

“Yeah.” He grinned, knowing full well that his heart was stamped over his face. He didn’t really care. He’d always liked the kid. “The kid’s pretty cool, I guess.”

“I have a daughter.” Trisha offered. “Melanie, she’s just turned six.” She pointed toward the swings where a little girl with blond braids was pushing herself in the air.

“Awesome.” Dean nodded, not really knowing what else to say. He’d never talked children in a park before. He was feeling somewhat out of his depth.

Seeing Dean’s discomfort, Trisha smiled, “Would you like to join us?” She nodded toward the clutch of four other women standing around in one corner of the park laughing and clucking with each other.

He felt like his testosterone levels dropped a good few points for even considering it, but then again if he had to keep chasing after Ben and Errol for the rest of the afternoon without a reprieve he was going drop before lunch time. When in Rome, he figured with a shrug.

“Sure, I could use a rest for a bit.”

Dean followed Trisha toward the other moms as he shouted toward the jungle gym. “Hey Ben! I’m gonna be over here!” He pointed to the women.

“Okay!” Ben shouted back just as he took a flying leap off the top rung and landed in a duck and roll that made Dean nod, impressed.

“Nice landing, kid!” He shouted over, receiving a pleased smile in return.

Glancing over at the women he’d just stepped up to, he found all of their eyes on him with varying degrees of shock, disapproval, and hunger. That last one made him fidget uncomfortably. One woman looked like she wanted to eat him.

“This is Dean.” Trisha introduced with a rather dubious look herself. Apparently he lost points for encouraging Olympic worthy gymnastics on the playground. “He’s a friend of Lisa Braeden’s.”

That seemed to ring a bell with the group. A couple of the women looked at him with more consideration than he thought was strictly necessary.

“Yo.” He greeted with a small wave and tucked the soccer ball under his arm absently.

“Are you just going to let those boys jump off the jungle gym like that?” One rather uptight looking broad demanded with a sniff of disapproval that reminded Dean of an old principal he’d hated once.

“Um… yeah?” He said, uncertainly.

“They could hurt themselves.” She said in a tone that seemed to imply that he should have thought of that all by himself.

Dean raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her and glanced around at the other women of the group. A couple of them rolled their eyes and looked like this was something the woman did all the time.

Ah. She was one of those. A helicopter parent; always hovering.

“Well, yeah, I guess.” He shrugged unconcerned. “Isn’t that what kids do, though?”

Helicopter-Mom was about to open her mouth and say something else equally disapproving and condescending when a shout from the jungle gym drew their attention.

“Hey Dean!” Errol waved from the top where Ben had jumped from. “Watch this!” He stood up on the rung and seemed to brace himself before he twisted and lunged. He spun in the air like a top before landing feet first in the sand with solid thud, his knees bent like a gymnast.

He seemed to blink to himself for a second before straightening up and turning back toward Dean with a wide pleased grin on his face.

“Woohoo!” Dean cheered with an equally wide grin. “Nice one, Errol! Totally awesome!”

Errol beamed and turned to chase after Ben who’d just tagged him.

Chuckling to himself, Dean turned back to find all the women looking at him again, Helicopter-Mom with a distinct scowl that could have melted the skin off his bones.

Dean blinked back at them innocently. “What? That was pretty freaking sweet.”

Helicopter-Mom huffed in indignation and stomped away to grab a miserable looking kid with smooth combed hair and a pressed polo shirt tucked into his khaki shorts. The boy had been sitting glumly on the edge of the sand box with a notepad and a colored pencil box.

Dean and the other moms watched till she and her son were out of the park. “Yeesh. I feel bad for that kid.” He said, his brain to mouth filter currently disengaged.

Cringing the moment the words were out of his mouth, Dean looked, but none of the other women seemed to mind his complete lack of tact.

“That was just Shelly.” One of the other more laid back moms said. “She’s a piece of work.”

“Mm,” agreed the woman next to her. “She wouldn’t be such a bitch if her husband spent more time fingering her and less time fingering his Blackberry.”

Dean blinked and had to tell himself to breathe for a moment before he completely lost it and doubled over in full bellied laughs. A strangled whimper of a chuckle escaped his hold anyway. Shit, he’d never heard anything so vulgar or hilarious come out of a suburban housewife’s mouth before.

Trisha just gave him a sideways smirk when he calmed down a bit. “Shelly’s not as popular as she likes to think she is.”

“She’s president of the PTA.” Blackberry-Mom said. “She likes to be a big fish in an itty bitty pond.”

“Be nice, Madison.” Trisha scolded her halfheartedly. “Shelly is very good at running the PTA.”

“Sure she is.” The first woman next to Madison agreed. “She’s just a tight-assed know-it-all control freak.” She grinned like the sweetest kind of candy and turned predatory eyes on Dean. “I’m Laurie, by the way.”

Dean shifted uncomfortably feeling a little like a mouse in front of a cat. “Hi.” He nodded at her haltingly.

“Don’t mind her.” Spoke up the last woman of the group. She’d been quiet until then and had a soft sweet voice that barely carried over the laughter and shouts of the playground. “Laurie doesn’t mean anything by it. I’m Jenny.”

“Sure I do.” Laurie grinned at Jenny lasciviously. “Dean here is one very attractive specimen of man.”

Once again, Dean found himself unable to meet her hungry eyes. God, were all housewives that hard up!?

“Laurie is newly divorced and on the prowl,” supplied Madison with an amused smirk.

“Ah.” Dean swallowed thickly and edged closer to Trisha for any measure of protection. He’d met many women, slept with many women, nearly been made mincemeat by many variations of supernatural women, but never had he actually been made to feel like a nice juicy piece of meat thrown in front of a starving tiger by a woman before.

So, that’s how it really feels to be objectified.

“So, Dean.” Madison said. “What do you do?”

Good question. “Uh, not much at the moment. I’ve been… working with my brother until recently so I’m just trying to get my bearings a bit.” He said. There, nice and uncomplicated.

“Oh? What did you and your brother do?” Laurie asked, making it sound like she hoped fervently that it had been something involving bad lighting, cheesy lines, and a lot of fake moaning.

“We worked in… pest control.” Dean said, coming up with the first thing off the top of his head. It was sort of true. In an abstract, lying with a very stretched truth kind of way.

“Mm.” Laurie hummed and licked her lips like a cat.

God, Dean reached up and tugged at his collar with a shaking hand. Was it really that hot out here?

“Stop it.” Jenny scolded her friend softly. “You’re making him uncomfortable.”

Laurie pouted, but desisted with the lecherous looks and come-hither leering.

“So,” Dean started when the conversation waned. “Is this what you ladies do at the park? Just stand around and talk?”

“Pretty much.” Madison nodded and glanced back around toward the game of tag that was going on. “Not much else to do.”

“Huh.” Dean figured this was just as good as sitting on his ass in front of the TV back at Lisa’s.

“Is that Errol Flynn that you brought here with Ben?” Laurie asked as she watched said boy run after another kid with a bright smile on his face.

“I guess.” Dean shrugged watching the scene along with them. “He just showed up on the doorstep this morning wanting to play with Ben. He’s cool.”

All four of the moms turned and looked at him with incredulous faces. “What?” He asked confusedly.

“Nothing.” Trisha assured him. “It’s just that Errol’s a bit of a… handful.”

Dean frowned at that.

Madison snorted. “That’s an understatement. Dana got called to the school three times last semester for Errol.”

“Dana?” Dean asked.

“Errol’s mother.” Jenny said. Dean was starting to realize that the woman barely spoke. There was just something soft and delicate, almost fragile about her. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it bothered him no end, set off every protective instinct he had and made him want to grab a weapon and start looking for something to kill.

Trisha scoffed and shook her head with obvious disapproval. “If you can call her that. Dana’s quite the workaholic. I’d be surprised if the boy sees her more than three times a week.”

That didn’t sound too bad to Dean, but then again he and Sam had to fend for themselves in motel rooms for weeks on end and that wasn’t exactly the best living environment for anyone much less a lone ten year-old kid.

He looked over toward the kids’ game again. Errol looked healthy, happy, a little mouthy maybe, but not necessarily neglected.

“He doesn’t seem so bad. Has a bit of an attitude maybe, but…”

“There’s nothing wrong with him.” Trisha interrupted. “He’s just not getting the attention he needs. There’s no father to speak of and if it weren’t for Rosa, I don’t think the boy would be nearly as well adjusted as he is now.”

“Rosa?” Dean felt like he was getting the skinny on the whole damned neighborhood. If only he and Sam realized how much women gossiped, they wouldn’t have had to do half as much research for a job as they did. This little playground clutch of moms was like a goddamned gold mine.

“Dana’s maid.” Laurie said. “She’s El Salvadorian, I think. But she only works every other day, so Errol gets himself to and from school most days.”

“Mm.” Dean nodded. So, Errol was a latchkey kid. Not bad, maybe a little bit of a lonely thing for a kid so young, but not so bad. At least he would be able to take care of himself unlike that poor kid with the Helicopter-PTA shark for a mom.

“Anyway,” Laurie interrupted his thoughts, “Errol gets in trouble a lot, or so I hear. A bit of a class clown; pretty disruptive.”

“Hey, everybody likes a little laughter to break up the boring, eh?” Dean chuckled.

“Oh, you’re one of those.” Madison grinned at him. “I bet you had all the teachers wanting to wring your neck and all the girls wanted to hang off it.”

Dean just blushed and rubbed at the back of said neck. “I wouldn’t say that.” He shrugged.

The conversation continued on and Dean got the lowdown on half the neighborhood. He knew just about every piece of good dirt the women could dish out from who was boffing the gardener to who was being investigated by the SEC. Dean was freaking loving it.

Of course, he’d never realized quite how catty and all fangs and claws suburban housewives could be, but it was damned entertaining. When Ben and Errol called him over to join in their game he was a bit reluctant to go.

See Sam, he thought to himself as he threw his jacket and soccer ball on the bench next to the group of women. See, I’m doing the apple pie life and it’s certainly not what either of us expected.

And it’s still damned lonely without you here to mock me through it.

Shaking off the maudlin thoughts, Dean got a very quick and almost incoherent rundown of the rules of the game and was soon running just fast enough to keep out of reach of a little girl named Sydney as she chased him trying to tag him “it” whatever that was. Dean was pretty sure they weren’t talking about the freaky killer clown.

An hour later, he was out of breath and seriously flagging on his energy levels. God, kids were like freaking energizer bunnies. They just kept on going and going. A quick glance at the clutch of moms and Dean realized that every woman over there was watching him with approval and different levels of desire that he wasn’t going to touch with a ten foot pole.

“Alright!” He panted, planting his hands on his knees as he struggled to breathe. “I’m done, kids. I gotta sit out for a bit.” Man, and he thought chasing shapeshifters, black dogs, and werewolves was a fucking workout.

“Aw!” Ben bemoaned and ran up to him with pleading eyes. “But you just started!”

Dean laughed humorlessly and grabbed the kid by the shoulder for support. “Sorry, Ben. I gotta rest or you’re going to have to drag my ass back home. I’m about to have a heart attack.”

Ben frowned at him. “It’s all those cheeseburgers you eat.” He said assuredly. “They’re clogging your arteries.”

“What? Do you even know what an artery is?” The kid sounded too much like Sam for either of their well being. It made his chest hurt with something that wasn’t his heart about to give out.

Ben thought about it for a moment before grinning and shrugging.

Scoffing, Dean scrubbed his fingers through the kid’s disheveled hair and pushed him away back toward the other kids. “Go play, kid.”

Finally, left to cough his lungs up in peace, Dean became aware of a pair of light blue eyes staring at him rather intently. Glancing over, he straightened up and saw Trisha’s little girl watching him from the swing set. Her face was unreadable and very intent.

Dean watched her back and raised a curious eyebrow when she jumped down and walked toward him in her little white sandals and white and blue flowered sundress.

“I’m Melanie.” She informed him as she came to a stop not two feet in front of him.

“I’m Dean.” He returned not really knowing what was going on. Little girls weren’t really his thing. Little boys he had no problem with since he just had to keep them fed and occupied, but he’d never in his life had to deal with a little girl beyond saving them from a monster or pulling them from a poltergeist ridden house.

“Will you push me?” She asked.

“What?” He asked incredulously. He wasn’t going to push a little girl! First of all you don’t hit girls unless they hit you first and second of all you don’t hit little girls. That’s just wrong.

“On the swings.” She clarified and Dean gave her an “oh” of understanding.

“Uh, sure.” He followed her toward the swings and waited until she was situated just right and had smoothed her dress down just so.

Melanie glanced back at him as she took a tight grip on the chains. “Okay. Go.”

“Uh.” Dean lifted his hands apprehensively and pushed against her back with as little pressure as possible. He didn’t want to hurt her or send her flying out of her seat.

“Harder!” She demanded in a high voice drawing the eyes of the Mom Clutch. “You have to push harder.”

“Um… okay.” He rolled his shoulders awkwardly and took a steadying breath. He felt like he was going to break her. Planting his palms high on her shoulder blades, he gave her a good push that sent her swinging away with an excited squeal.

“Again!” She giggled and started pumping her legs to keep up the momentum.

Huh. That wasn’t so bad. Dean smiled a little to himself and gave her another push when she swung back toward him.

Melanie seemed to approve because she leaned back with a bright smile on her face and pointed her toes like she wanted to touch the sky. It was a beautiful sight; the kind of beautiful that makes you pull over on the side of the highway just so you could watch the sunrise.

It reminded Dean, strangely enough, of the times when he and Sam would park in a field in the middle of nowhere and just stare at the sky and all its stars. And with that memory, Dean had never felt the hole in his heart more acutely.

God, Dean swallowed the lump in his throat, he missed Sam like a phantom limb.

“You having fun, Melanie?” He asked, clearing his throat to cover up the sudden roughness of his voice.

“Yep!” Melanie grinned at him upside down as she swung back toward him. “You push better than my mommy.”

Dean chuckled and shrugged. “That’s cause I’ve got stronger arms, sweetheart.”

Melanie giggled and closed her eyes seeming to simply enjoy the feeling of weightlessness and the wind on her face. Dean suddenly envied her immensely for her carefree smile.

He didn’t know how long he spent just pushing Melanie on the swings, but eventually the sun was on the opposite side of the sky and Dean’s belly was telling him that it was past time to eat again.

Glancing over at the sound of foot steps he shared a smile with Trisha. “Thank you so much for pushing Melanie on the swings.”

“Nah,” Dean shrugged it off as he gently caught Melanie on her downward journey and lowered her with the swing till her feet could touch gravel again. “It was kinda fun.”

Trisha gave him a doubtful, knowing smile, but turned to her daughter. “It’s time to go get lunch, honey.”

“Aw.” Melanie whined as she twisted in the swing back and forth absently. “Do we have to?”

“Yes.” Trisha gave her a stern look. “Now say thank you to Dean and let’s go.”

The little girl heaved a very put upon sigh before standing up and darting forward to wrap her little arms around Dean’s legs in a tight hug. “Thank you, Dean. You’re the best pusher ever.”

Dean patted her on the shoulder awkwardly and blushed like a… well, like a little girl. “Any time, squirt.”

Melanie grinned up at him and stepped away to grab her mom’s hand.

Trisha smiled sweetly and held out her other hand. “It was nice meeting you, Dean…”

“Campbell.” Dean finished for her and shook her hand. “You too.”

“Trisha Walsh.” She supplied at his questioning look before turning and starting to walk back down the street toward her house. “I hope to see you again. You’re a nice addition to the clutch.”

Blinking at her knowing use of his nick name for her group, Dean just chuckled and waved before he turned around and started to round up Ben and Errol.

All this playing made him hungry.

With a wave at the other women, Dean had soon piled a sweaty and flushed Ben and Errol into the backseat of the Impala and pointed it in the direction of food.

“Alright, where do you boys want to get lunch?” He asked at a stoplight.

“Burgers!”

“Burgers!”

Dean chuckled. “Alright. That I can do.”

He pointed the car toward the hole-in-the-wall burger joint he’d discovered the first time he’d ventured out of the suburbs and turned up the volume on Blue Oyster Cult.

By the time they pulled into the drive through, Ben and Errol were singing along loud and out of tune and Dean couldn’t help singing with them.

This was the most relaxed he’d been in… a very long time, probably since that ill-advised trip to a brothel with Cas, and Dean didn’t want to think about it ending anytime soon. He was having fun. Innocent, PG rated fun, but still it was better than sitting alone watching nothing on TV and drinking himself into another hangover.

Three cheese burger combos with Dr. Peppers and extra fries later, Dean, Ben, and Errol were seated on the benches around the back of the joint chowing down and chattering like chipmunks.

Dean just listened to the never ending commentary and enjoyed the early afternoon sunlight through the leaves of the trees. It was peaceful, calming. And so not his life.

At least it used to not be his life. Now, Sam had given him no choice and he needed to adapt or parish.

Sighing, Dean wrapped up their trash and ushered the kids back toward the Impala to head back to Lisa’s. It’d been a good day. A very good day.

*

Why is it that Dean was never allowed to sleep in mornings? When he was growing up, it was PT supervised by his dad, Sammy’s breakfast, or weapon maintenance. When he was on his own it was always driving to the next hunt, interviewing witnesses, or talking his way into a coroner’s office.

Now, with the apocalypse over, his brother and father dead, his angel off policing heaven, and his hunting mojo hung up in the closest like an old coat it was doorbells incessantly ringing.

Sighing tiredly, Dean rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans. At least this morning he wasn’t hungover.

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” He shouted as the bell went off again. Ben popped his head over the back of the couch as he shuffled passed and Dean gave him an off handed wave.

“What?” Dean grumbled as he opened the door only to find Errol Flynn on the welcome mat once again. “Oh.”

Errol shuffled nervously from foot to foot and looked up at him through his messy windblown bangs. “’Morning Dean. Can I come play with Ben today?”

Dean ran a hand through his hair and nodded, “Sure, kid,” stepping back from the door. Errol slipped passed him and disappeared into the living room with Ben.

Sighing again, Dean resigned himself to yet another Saturday with rambunctious ten year-olds and couldn’t really bring himself to mind too much.

Well, he thought, might as well get cleaned up and start breakfast.

Not thirty minutes later, Dean had bacon sizzling on the stove, scrambled eggs in a bowl, and biscuits in the oven. He’d enjoyed his breakfast with Ben and Errol so much the Saturday before that he’d gone to the store with Lisa during the week and loaded up with breakfast food.

If made him feel just a tad bit like a Mr. Mom, a wolf in domesticated clothing, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much what with Ben and Errol concentrating so hard on mixing up the pancake mix with just the right chocolate chip to blueberry ratio.

Dean was about to start popping the waffles in the toaster when the doorbell went off, again. Huh… he already had one stray in the kitchen, who could it possible be at the door at… nine-forty-five on a Saturday?

“Hey, Ben. Come and pop these in the toaster while I grab the door, okay kid?” He asked while he wiped his hands off on the dishtowel hanging out of his back pocket.

Dean padded quickly through the living room and slid to a stop at the front door, turning the bolt and tugging it open.

And there on Lisa’s welcome mat was Madison Strait from the Mom Clutch at the park. Her thick wavy dark hair was pulled back in a haphazard bun and she looked flushed with the heat of the morning.

“Good morning!” She smiled widely at him even as her eyes scanned him from head to foot. She took in the well fitted dark t-shirt, the flour on his cheek, the smell of bacon wafting from behind him, and the faded jeans that hugged him in all the right places. And his bare feet.

God, she was a sucker for bare feet… too bad she was still madly in love with her husband, Don. But hey, as long as she eats at home, she figures it doesn’t particularly matter where she gets her appetite.

Dean fought the blush that started up when he realized that Madison was undressing him with her eyes. “Uh- good morning.”

The sound of his voice seemed to break her out of her daze and she flicker her eyes back up to meet his. “Yeah, hey, I’m sorry to ask you this, but I have to drive across town for a doctor appointment and my babysitter just canceled on me. I was hoping that Lisa would be here and wouldn’t mind watching Sydney and Clark for me until I’m done.”

It was then that Dean realized that it wasn’t just Madison on the welcome mat, but standing on either side of her was her nine year-old daughter and her six year-old son.

Dean blinked and looked back up at Madison. “Oh, well sorry, but it’s just me and Ben today. Errol showed up earlier this morning and I was just making them breakfast, but…” He trailed off realizing that Madison didn’t exactly seem put-off by that.

“Oh! Well, that’s perfectly alright.” She said and started to push her kids forward until Dean was forced back from the door or else be plowed over. “I’ll pick them up sometime after lunch, feel free to discipline them if they misbehave, and don’t let Clark eat any nuts, he’s allergic. Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.” She said all in a rush.

Dean was having the darnedest time trying to follow along. A quick glance at the kids said that they were used to their mother’s word spew.

“Be good for Dean, babies. Love you! Bye Dean!” She smiled brightly at him, darting forward and planting a kiss on his cheek before she was rushing away like the hellhounds were after her.

Dean, Sydney, and Clark just watched her drive away in a daze. Closing the door, Dean turned the bolt and looked warily down at the two new kids in Lisa’s house. They were watching him back just as warily.

“Well, it’s probably good I bought extra stuff for breakfast then.” That was all he could think to say.

Sydney and Clark didn’t say anything to that.

Ben looked up from where he was sneaking chocolate chips from the bag to see Dean come back to the kitchen. “Who was it?” He asked.

Dean looked a bit dazed, but he just ran a hand over his face before stepping away to reveal Sydney and Clark Strait. “Sydney and Clark’s mom was dropping them off to hang for a while.” He explained when neither boy looked like they were going to say anything.

“Do you think we can share our breakfast with them?” Dean asked rhetorically as he flipped the bacon and opened another package. They were going to need more eggs as well.

Ben just shrugged. “Sure. You wanna help me add the chocolate chips, Clark?”

The little boy flashed an eager smile and looked at Dean questioningly.

“Knock yourself out.” He said. “We’re going to have to make another batch anyhow. You can help Ben with that.”

Clark bounced on the balls of his feet and rushed over to climb up on the stool next Ben. “Cool.” He said.

Dean looked over to see Sydney and Errol eyeing each other with growing blushes on their cheeks. He felt his mouth drop open before he felt a rush of pride. Wooh! Way to go Errol.

“Hey Sydney.” The little boy blushed and gave a pancake splattered wave.

“Hi.” The little girl smiled shyly back.

“D-do you wanna help me with the blueberries?” He asked, stuttering a little in his nervousness.

“Okay.” Sydney smiled and climbed up on the stool more gracefully than her little brother.

Dean watched the kid for a moment while he waited for the bacon to start popping. It reminded him a little of when Sam came home one day in the third grade with the hugest crush on Kristen Bell in his class. The poor kid could barely string three words together without blushing and stuttering.

At the time it had been so freaking hilarious that Dean couldn’t help, but pick on his sullen little brother.

Smiling a bit to himself at the memory, Dean turned back to the stove and started doubling up all the proportions. Four growing kids along with Dean’s bottomless stomach were bound to eat a hefty hole through the fridge.

Soon they were all seated at the kitchen table and Dean was struck by just how different eating a meal with a little girl could be. Didn’t they tend to be more delicate and polite in their eating habits?

Sydney, much to Dean’s surprise, snagged the Tabasco right out from under his hand and started pouring it over and across her bacon and eggs.

When she looked up at the stunned silence that had fallen over the table she just blushed and shrugged. “What? My dad eats his eggs like this and I like it.”

“No, no.” Dean assured her and pushed the pepper shaker toward her plate. “By all means. You’re a woman after my own heart.” He grinned at her as he took the Tabasco back from her and started pouring it over his own plate.

Sydney blushed and smiled prettily at him before digging into her food.

Errol watched the whole thing, before he got this determined look on his face and snagged the Tabasco after Dean had set it down and started throwing it over just about everything on his own plate.

Dean watched with great amusement as Errol took a huge bite and turned bright red, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Take it easy with the sauce, kid.” He advised belatedly, a smirk on his lips. “You gotta build up a tolerance first.”

Ben and Clark broke out into helpless giggles as Errol grabbed his orange juice with a white-knuckled hand and started downing like it was going out of style.

Dean couldn’t take it anymore and started laughing as well. He could get used to hanging out with kids all the time. They sure as hell weren’t as crazy as adults.

After breakfast, everyone cleaned up and plopped themselves down in front of the TV to watch the rest of the Saturday morning cartoons. Dean sat, stretched out on the sofa with his bare feet on the coffee table while the kids were all manner of curled, sprawled, and laid out in front of the TV with mountains of lounge pillows they’d pulled from Ben’s room.

Dean was having a blast watching reruns of G.I. Joe that he remembered from his childhood, but soon began to notice that Clark’s attention was waning and Sydney looked less than happy about watching another boy show.

“Alright, kids.” He started as he sat up. “Let’s do something else. We can’t sit inside all day.”

“Yeah!” Ben started bouncing on his knees as he turned around to look at Dean. “Let’s go jump on the trampoline.”

“You have a trampoline?” Sydney asked, with hope and excitement in her voice.

“Yeah.” Ben nodded. “We can play Crack-The-Egg.”

“Alright.” Dean clapped his hands together and stood up. “Let’s do this!” Not that he knew what “crack the egg” was, in fact it sounded kinda painful, but if the kids were up for it, he figured he could at least supervise.

Everyone started jumping up with eager smiles on their faces, but Sydney’s smile suddenly dimmed and she looked down at herself morosely.

“What’s up, sweetie?” Dean asked when he saw the little girl’s frown.

Sydney looked up at him with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen. God, these kids were going to kill him, he just knew it.

“I can’t play on the trampoline.” She said in a quiet voice. “My mom says I’m not allowed to do things like that in a skirt.”

Dean looked and for the first time really noticed that yes, Sydney was indeed wearing a flowy pink and purple skirt that went down to her knees.

“Oh.” He said. What the fuck was he supposed to do with that? He asked himself. He didn’t know a thing about girls, but seeing that heartbroken look on Sydney’s face, Dean just knew that he had to fix it somehow.

“You can wear a pair of my shorts.” Ben offered, before Dean even really had to think about a solution.

“Really?” Sydney asked hopefully, her eyes flicking between Dean and Ben.

“Sure.” Ben smiled at her and turned to Dean as if asking for permission.

Jolted a little bit to realize that he really was the one in charge, Dean shrugged. “If they’ll fit her, I don’t have a problem with it.”

And that’s how Dean found himself standing outside Ben’s room waiting for Sydney to finish changing out of her skirt. He felt awkward and out of place, and completely stupid. And what on earth was taking her so long?

“Hey, Syd.” He called through the door awkwardly. “You about finished?”

“Almost.” She called back over.

Dean sighed and leaned back against the wall. The boys were all outside jumping on the trampoline already and waiting for them so they could all play Crack-The-Egg.

Dean still wasn’t real sure about that game.

Finally the door opened and Dean looked up to see Sydney standing barefoot in the doorway wearing her pretty purple and pink flowery t-shirt and a dark brown pair of Ben’s shorts. She’d used one of the kid’s belts to keep the shorts up seeing as how she was a bit smaller than him.

“Alright.” Dean nodded uncertainly because he really didn’t know what that look on Sydney’s face meant. “Looks good. Let’s go.”

Apparently that was the right thing to say, cause she beamed and raced passed him, down the stairs, and out the back door before he could really comprehend that he felt more and more like a parent the longer he stayed in this cookie cutter house with these cool kids.

Standing outside next to the trampoline, Dean shook his head, crossed his arms over his chest and tried really hard to ignore the pleading looks all four children were hitting him with.

“I don’t know...”

“Please!” Ben begged, bouncing closer to the edge of the trampoline. “It’ll be fun!”

Dean flicked a glance at the kids’ flushed excited faces before that niggling voice in the back of his head that was screaming “Danger! Danger! Will Robinson” crumbled in defeat and he sighed, very put upon.

“Alright.” The kids all broke out into cheers. “But just for a couple of rounds.”

The kids didn’t seem at all deterred by that and just nodded eagerly while Dean shored himself up for what was sure to be a very big mistake and climbed up onto the trampoline with them.

“Okay, now you have to get in the middle and curl up.” Ben reminded him.

Dean grimaced, but did as he was instructed and curled into the fetal position on his side with his arms wrapped around his legs. God, he felt like a lamb going to the slaughter. This was so not a good idea.

“Now, we have to try and crack you.” And didn’t that just sound pleasant.

The kids started jumping and Dean started bouncing and halfway through he thought, hey, this isn’t so bad. He was curled into a ball and was being bounced up and down as the kids tried to get him to lose his grip and uncurl.

It was actually kinda fun.

Until Errol nearly jumped on top of his head and his arms and legs flew away from him in self preservation despite his best effort to hold on.

“Yay!” Clark cheered bouncing up and down. “We cracked you!”

Bouncing a little on his back, Dean stared up at the sky as his heart slowed down and he got his breathing under control. That wasn’t so bad. It was actually… kinda fun.

“Alright!” He jumped up to his feet with a simple flex of his stomach muscles. “Who’s next?”

The kids all cheered and another game of Crack-The-Human-Child-Egg commenced.

Dean, consequently was having a really rather great time. It kinda felt like he was kid again himself. Almost like he got another chance at a childhood to do the things he never even knew he’d missed.

He just wished Sam was there to experience it with him.

*

Lisa pulled up to her house in the early afternoon and paused in unlocking her front door as the sound of laughter floated from her backyard. Frowning to herself, she pushed the door open and was about to step inside when a familiar SUV pulled up and parked behind her car in the driveway.

“Hello, Madison.” She called as the other woman climbed out and headed toward her with a smile.

“Hey, Lisa. Are you just getting home?” She asked tucking a fly away curl behind her ear.

“Yeah.” Lisa nodded with a bit of frown. “What brings you here?”

“Oh, I’m just picking up Sydney and Clark. Dean was watching them for me while I was at my appointment.” Madison explained with such nonchalance that Lisa blinked at her.

“Dean said he’d watch Sydney and Clark for you?” She asked to make sure she’d understood that correctly.

“Mhm.” Madison nodded. “He’s such a sweetheart. Said that Errol Flynn was already over for breakfast.”

“Errol Flynn?” Lisa asked again, feeling rather lost. She couldn’t really believe that Dean Winchester, the Dean Winchester who knew several very illegal ways to use his tongue, earned a living from hustling pool and credit card fraud, and who fought monsters and things that go bump in the night was babysitting a group of children.

Ben she could understand. Dean and Ben had a strangely close relationship and were so much alike neither would have any problem trying to entertain the other, but other unfamiliar children?

“Mm.” Madison hummed, seeming not to notice Lisa’s disbelief. “Poor kid’s probably starved for the attention, but from what we saw at the park last weekend, he seems to get on really well with Dean.”

Right, the park. Lisa remembered Ben telling her about that.

“Would you like to come in?” She asked, finally shaking herself out of her head.

Madison grinned at her. “Sure. I still have to pick up my kids, anyway.”

Both women made their way through the house toward the backyard following the sounds of laughter and screaming. Passing through the living room, Lisa saw the mountains of pillows, Ben had hoarded for his TV watching forts all still piled in front of the couch. She glanced over at the kitchen and saw the kitchen table had the remains of what looked like a sandwich making station, the sink filled with soapy water and dirty dishes.

It was all kinds of surreal and it just got even more so when they finally made it to the backyard only to see 6’ 1” and one hundred and ninety pounds of muscle Dean Winchester bouncing up and down on her trampoline with Ben, Errol, Clark, and Sydney.

He gave one enormous jump and did a perfectly executed backflip landing on his feet with his arms out and a shit eating grin on his face.

The kids cheered, Madison giggled, and Lisa just watched with her mouth open. This was the ghost of a man that had been haunting her couch and her guest room for weeks? That would drink until he slurred nearly every night before passing out in the wee hours of the morning?

The man that had saved everything, lost everything, and seemed to think he had nothing left?

Dean heard Madison’s giggle and turned to smile at the two watching women. “Hey!” He waved and jumped off the trampoline. “How long were you watching?” He asked sheepishly when he got a good look at the appreciative look in Madison’s eyes.

“Long enough.” Madison purred causing Lisa to give her a confused frown. “I didn’t realize you were so athletic.”

There was that feeling again. Like being a juicy steak in front of a starving lion. Dean rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck and shifted on his bare feet. “Well, being in pest control you have to keep in shape.” He explained.

“Pest control?” Lisa raised an eyebrow at him.

He just gave her a grin. “Yeah. Didn’t I tell you that’s what my brother and I did for a living?”

Lisa felt a little out of her depth. She’d never been all that good with lies and subterfuge. “Right, I just forgot.”

Completely oblivious to the undercurrents between her friend and Dean, Madison just smiled. “I had no idea you were so good with kids either.” She said. “I haven’t seen Sydney and Clark that animated in a while.”

They all looked back over at the trampoline to see Clark take a flying leap into the middle of the trampoline only to belly flop and flip upside down back onto his feet. Sydney gave a mighty jump and did the splits in mid air much to Errol’s glaze-eyed elation.

“Nah,” Dean shrugged nonchalantly. “They’re good kids. And Sydney,” he whistled, visibly impressed. “That girl can put the hot sauce away like no other.”

Madison chuckled with him then frowned a little. “I could have sworn she was wearing a skirt this morning when I dropped her off.”

At this both women had the bemusement, or pleasure, of watching Dean blush bright red. Lisa gave him a very severe eyebrow that said very clearly, Explain.

“She really wanted to jump on the trampoline, but said she wasn’t allowed to in a skirt, so…” He shrugged uncomfortably. “We gave her a pair of Ben’s shorts to wear.”

Madison looked at him as if she’d never seen anything like him before, but then Sydney yelled at her mom to watch and proceeded to do a back flip summersault in mid air. Her face softened as she praised her daughter.

“You know, Dean.” Madison said, making him tense ready for anything. “I can’t thank you enough for watching them this afternoon. You’re a God send.”

That made an odd mix of bitter irony and warmth well up in him. If only they knew, he scoffed to himself.

Soon Clark and Sydney were being ushered out of the house by their mother, but only after giving Dean two of the most enthusiastic and tight hugs he’d ever received. It felt nice.

Turning away from closing and locking the door, Dean came face to face with Lisa. She had an odd knowing look on her face and Dean surreptitiously looked around for Ben or Errol to save him.

Of course, neither boy was anywhere near him, both choosing to head up to Ben’s room to play video games. Little traitors.

“Dean.” Lisa said catching and holding his undivided wary attention. “I think we have just found a way for you to earn your keep.”

Dean felt dawning horror and waves of trepidation wash over him. He knew he should have just not answered the door that morning. Hell, not even gotten out of bed. Nothing good ever comes from getting out of bed.

Lisa ignored his wide eyed look of utter terror and simply smirked.

He was so screwed.

*

End


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